“Hate crimes have no place in Miami Beach, or anywhere in our country. Everyone should be treated with respect and dignity, regardless of who they love. As Mayor, I was committed to fighting injustices and was proud that our city received a perfect score from the national LGBTQ organization, Human Rights Council every year I was in office,” he said. “I’m also proud to have supported a key initiative, Safe Spaces, to ensure that a safe environment in Miami Beach is always fostered. As Governor, I won’t tolerate this. Not for one second.”

But this doesn’t appear to be just an LGBT issue.

SFGN has since interviewed the mother of a 16-year-old victim, whom she said was treated in a similar way after being attacked on the beach on President’s Day in February. The attack was caught on video and shows another girl beating her with a bottle.

“The police told her there was nothing they could do about it,” said Maria Morales, the girl’s mother. Her mother said during the attack her daughter lost her cell phone so when she came across the police she asked for help and they ignored her pleas. “She’s 16 years old. She’s a minor. That’s unacceptable.”

Her daughter eventually left the police and found another way to contact her mother, who left work and picked her up.

Morales took her daughter to the police station to file a report, where she said, the police at first tried to downplay the attack. Morales, though, wouldn’t let up. Eventually she tracked down two of her daughter’s assailants and took the information to the police. One girl was eventually arrested and charged.

“Don’t fuck with a child’s mom,” Morales said. “I did all of their leg work. I got the videos. I got their names.” 

In January SFGN reported on another incident in which Tiffany Fantasia, a local drag queen whose real name is Henry Williams, was put in handcuffs and manhandled by the MBPD because she matched the description of a black male in possession of a knife.

At the time of the incident Williams was in men’s clothes but he still had his drag makeup on.

At the time Williams posted this on Facebook: